


promises kept

by eva_cybele



Series: flew like a moth to you, sunlight [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, Interspecies Awkwardness, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 21:18:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18786397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eva_cybele/pseuds/eva_cybele
Summary: The Warrior of Light returns to Ishgard one day early -- a story exploring what if the dinner with Aymeric had not been so cruelly interrupted.Female Au Ra paladin WoL.





	promises kept

**Author's Note:**

> This is the most self-indulgent thing I've ever written, and if even one other person enjoys it, I will be pleasantly surprised.

“Now that the dust has settled, what will you do? Not as a Scion, I mean, but… what do you want for yourself?” Aymeric’s smile was soft, and warm, and the lingering of his gaze made Kaede feel like the heat under her skin was perhaps not solely attributable to the wine.

“I… honestly, I’m not entirely sure. It’s been a long time since I had the luxury of even thinking about what I want.” No, she was the Warrior of Light, expected to flit hither and yon, to throw herself into danger at a moment’s notice, without a moment’s peace. “I’d like to find the rest of my friends, but other than that…” Her shoulders flicked up in a shrug.

Aymeric shook his head, mouth twisting in displeasure. “Thinking of yourself should not be a luxury, my friend. Not after everything you have done. You have earned near on a lifetime of selfishness, I should think. Selfishness and peace.”

“The same could be said for you, Lord Speaker. What would you want for yourself, if you had the opportunity to be selfish?”

A flicker of something that, on a lesser man, might be called a flinch, flashed across Aymeric’s face before transforming into a wry smile. “Well, first on the list would be for you to not call me that again.”

Kaede settled her hand on her chin and grinned across the table. “Noted. And second?”

“Second...would be to be able to spend more evenings like this. Quiet, and in good company.” His expression softened again, into that look that sent butterflies in her lungs and liquid gold pooling in her stomach. “Though do not think that I have not noticed you dodging my question.”

Silly to think that she could sneak anything by the sharp eyes of the Lord Commander. “Quiet nights in good company sounds very nice to me, as well. Maybe the opportunity to practice my bladework without a looming crisis and someone’s life dependent on how hard I can swing my sword.”

A chuckle burst forth from Aymeric’s mouth. “Spoken like a true warrior, thinking of training even during times of peace.”

“Well, we can’t all be delicate Ishgardian maidens,” Kaede grumbled from behind her wine glass.

“And well glad I am that you are not, my friend. To be frank, when first I met you, I scarce believed that such a tiny slip of a woman was the vaunted slayer of primals. To hear Haurchefant talk, you were ten fulms tall and made of solid steel.” He paused for a moment, swirling his wine, smile turned briefly melancholy at the mention of their lost friend. “I believe the second part must be true, with how you fight.”

“I’m as flesh and blood as you, Aymeric. Well,” one hand moved of its own accord to cover the pale golden scales that traced her arms, “more or less, I suppose.”

Aymeric’s hand stretched across the table and caught her wrist in a gentle grip, pulling her hand back. When she met his gaze in surprise, he shook his head. “Kaede. Please do not ever feel as if you must hide from me. There is no shame in being as you are.”

The quiet, emphatic declaration caught her off guard, and her breath caught in a surge of gratitude. “I - thank you. I often think myself past self-consciousness about my differences, but sometimes it has a way of rising back up when I least expect it.” Her gaze flicked down to where Aymeric’s long, tapered fingers were still wrapped around her wrist, and Kaede found herself mildly dismayed when he pulled away. His hand had been warm, and calloused, and she wanted to know what it felt like, on both scales and skin.

The thought made her flush pink, and reach for her wine glass.

A smooth, sympathetic voice broke through her scrambled thoughts and soothed them back into something approaching order. “Believe me, I can understand that feeling. It’s been years since I became Lord Commander and I was raised to nobility, and I still struggle with the idea that I am aught besides a lowborn bastard. It must have been much harder, to grow up with your strangeness writ on your skin, rather than simply in your blood.”

Kaede nodded, catching Aymeric’s eyes lingering on the scales on her cheeks. “It was, at times. Honestly, I expected to be shunned when I came to Ishgard. Most people look at me and their first thought is ‘dragon.’”

Aymeric shook his head at that, eyes downcast in regret. “That is a mistake that we have made before with your people that I was committed to not repeating. There were murmurs, of course, but your deeds in Coerthas spoke for themselves. Then House Fortemps sponsored you – and they are above suspicion by all but the other high houses. What irony is it that it is my people who have the blood of dragons within them, not yours.”

“’My people’… Honestly, it feels somewhat strange to think of that way. I grew up in Eorzea, the only other Au Ra I had ever met until recently were my parents, and they died when I was young. Other Au Ra are as strange to me as they are to you, I imagine.” She would never forget the visceral shock of seeing Yugiri’s horns, even swathed in dark fabric, and the lilting accent that never failed to remind Kaede of her mother’s voice. Or Sid’s towering height and sharp features, limned in black as a strange inversion of her father’s gold. The initial recognition quickly gave way, though – she was truly more Eorzean than Doman, and it showed, in a thousand tiny ways.

Shaking her head as if to forcefully clear it of maudlin thoughts, Kaede noticed a pair of servants standing dutifully in the doorway to the kitchen, doubtless waiting to clear away the table. Aymeric followed her gaze and stood. “By the Fury, I didn’t realize how long we’d been sitting here. Let’s get ourselves out of the way and find somewhere more comfortable to continue our conversation, shall we?”

Kaede slid her chair back and took the hand that Aymeric offered her, allowing him to lead her to his sitting room, his palm resting lightly between her shoulder blades. Standing, the differences in their height were made ever more apparent – she was, by all accounts, somewhat tall by Auri standards, just over five fulms, but Aymeric was, well, Elezen. The top of her head barely cleared his collarbone. Not that the height difference bothered her – she was used to being towered over – but it always made her wonder if he looked at her and saw a child, rather than a woman.

The sitting room was as elegantly appointed as the rest of the manor, though much smaller and more simple in its decorations than that of House Fortemps. When they reached the threshold, Aymeric stopped and removed his hand from her back, and Kaede saw it twitch towards the side of her head before it stilled and lowered.

She smiled and pulled her hair back from her horns and tilted her head towards him. “Curious? You can touch them if you want, I don’t mind.” Everyone wanted to, eventually, once they got past the strangeness. Children were just usually the only ones brave enough to ask. The adults who tried it without asking… well, she had perfected the art of introducing a dagger pommel to the gut with just enough strength to bruise.

Aymeric’s fingers twitched again, but he hesitated. “I must confess that yes, I am curious, but I wouldn’t want to impose…” At her steady gaze, he shifted uncomfortably, like a child who had been caught trying to steal sweets from the kitchen before dinner, and then slowly raised his hand, ever-so-lightly running his fingertips along the scaled swept-back curve. “Are they sensitive?”

Kaede repressed a pleasant shiver. “A bit. Just to vibrations, though. I don’t really feel it the same way as if it was skin.” She watched his thoughtful expression, focused enough that she didn’t notice the way his fingers slid from the tip of her horn and down along a rogue lock of pale blonde hair.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen your hair down like this before… You always have it pulled back and braided.”

Kaede became suddenly, painfully aware of how close he was standing – close enough that her entire field of view was eclipsed by a tall, beautiful man in frankly rather silly robes. She preferred his armor.

She also preferred HER armor, and standing there in a borrowed dress, the strangeness of the moment threatened to overwhelm her. How long had it been since she had been so vulnerable in anyone else’s presence, stripped not only of physical armor, but of the layers of distance created by being Au Ra, by being a Scion, by being the Warrior of Light? None of that mattered here, and the thought was as terrifying as it was thrilling.

“Kaede?” Aymeric must have sensed her hesitation, because pulled his hand back and let it drop, but he did not step back out of the space that she normally claimed as her own. “Are you alright?”

“I - yes. I was just thinking how strange it felt to let my hair down and be out of my armor. The last time it happened…” She trailed off, mind going back to the banquet in Ul’dah, the one that had thrown her entire life into even greater upheaval.

A warm hand slid against her scaled cheek, gently lifting her gaze from where it had drifted to the floor. “Strange need not mean unpleasant, Kaede.”

Her breath caught in her throat, threatening to choke her. Aymeric’s thumb slid over her scales in something close to reverence. Never in her life had a man handled her with such gentleness, and the tenderness in the gesture threatened to shatter her composure into a thousand shivering pieces.

She had been with other men, and women as well, but those were casual, after-battle flings, suffused with the joyous energy of having survived yet another impossible battle. None had felt so weighted down with respect and duty, with shared pain and burdens. That she was standing in Aymeric’s home, barely an ilm between their bodies, was not something that could have happened by chance – it was deliberate. A choice. One he had made… and one that loomed before her. She could always step back, say that it was late and that she would be missed, and he would let her go without a word to the contrary. He would remain her dear friend, and nothing more. 

With a deep breath, Kaede gathered the shreds of her customary strength and wrapped it around herself like a cloak, before inclining her head towards the empty seats near the fire, attempting to ignore the way it pressed her cheek more firmly into Aymeric’s hand. “When you mentioned somewhere more comfortable to continue our conversation, I cannot believe you meant the hallway, lovely as it is.”

The intensity in Aymeric’s expression dissolved a bit as he looked around, replaced by a slightly embarrassed smile. “I did not, it is true. Shall we?” His fingers left her cheek with agonizing slowness, and with space established between them again, Kaede found herself able to breathe.

It was not that his advances were unwelcome – there had been a warmth and connection between them from the first, and in her rare moments of ease she nurtured the seeds of _perhaps, one day, we might…_

The time just never seemed right, and she would never have guessed that Aymeric’s patience would run out before her own. This was a battle that she was wholly, woefully unprepared for – there was no Echo to give her an edge, to see the movements before they came, and the lack of balance left her on the edge of panic even when the outcome was something she’d only dreamt of. Wrong of her, perhaps, to look at an evening full of warmth and good company as a battle, but it was the terrain that was most familiar, and most comfortable, after all.

Aymeric busied himself at a side table, pouring more wine, as Kaede curled herself into an overstuffed (and for her, oversized) armchair, heart rate slowly steadying while she mulled over exactly what tactic would be best for regaining the upper hand. As she thought back on the evening, it became clear there was only one option. Boldness, not reserve, was her custom, and by relinquishing that control she had put herself on the defensive. It was easy to be bold with adrenaline singing in her veins, when the atmosphere was not nearly so fraught with tension, and when the target was not someone so terribly dear to her, but the Warrior of Light never shied from a challenge.

When Aymeric brought her the wine, Kaede let her fingertips brush his as she took the glass, pleased with the way his eyes widened ever-so-slightly in surprise. With her other hand, she reached up and brushed aside the curls that fell over his eyes as he stooped to her level, privately glorying in the fact that _yes_ , his hair was exactly as soft as it looked.

He stood frozen above her, and despite the similarity of position from before, Kaede felt a marked shift in the balance between them. Lips curling upwards in a smile that edged on mischievous, she ran a finger along the upper edge of one of his ears, in an echo of the way he’d touched her horns. She was rewarded with a small, full body shiver and the joy of seeing his face go slack in pleasure at her touch.

She dropped her hand and tucked it demurely around her wine glass, and Aymeric straightened to his full height with an unseemly speed and all but retreated to his own chair. It would seem that she was not the only one accustomed to being the instigator.

When finally he met her eyes again, they were still a bit dazed and unfocused, but there was _hunger_ underneath, and Kaede knew that she had to press her advantage or risk losing it entirely.

With a breath and a prayer to Halone for strength, she threw caution to the cold Ishgardian winds and seized boldness with both hands. Placing her untouched wine on the table, she rose and strode the few steps between their chairs, coming to stand in front of Aymeric, close enough that her knees brushed his. Head tilted so her pale blonde hair spilled over her shoulder, reflecting golden in the firelight, she smiled down at him with a confidence she didn’t quite feel, enjoying the way his pupils went wide and threatened to swallow the blue of his irises.

“I believe we were discussing curiosity… was there anything else you were curious about?”

A deep breath fair shuddered out of him, and this time it was Aymeric’s turn to be at a loss for words. Eventually he forced out a half-strangled _Kaede,_ and hearing her own name underpinned with such longing nearly undid her, so she forged forward.

One knee settled into the chair beside his thigh, and her other knee found purchase on the other side. She knelt in his lap, his height advantage finally neutralized. Licking her lips – why was her mouth so dry? maybe she should have drank the damned wine – she twitched her tail around and ran it down Aymeric’s arm.

So apparently focused was he on the sudden, welcome presence of a woman on his lap that Aymeric jumped in alarm at the foreign appendage, and Kaede had to grab fistfuls of his ridiculous robes to keep from being thrown indelicately into the floor. His hands went instinctively to her hips to steady her, and Kaede found herself close enough that she could feel his breath against her lips.

Finally, Aymeric found his voice again, strained and breathy, but gaining strength. “By the Fury, you are _magnificent_.”

With the final scrap of her control, Kaede released her grip on his robes and moved both her hands up, tracing the sharp line of his jaw, before slowly, softly, covering his lips with her own.

A melting, pooling heat spread from her lips to the rest of her body, as he returned the kiss with as much tenderness as he’d touched her cheek earlier. When they broke apart, she all but scrambled off his lap, boldness exhausted.

Reaching for her wine, Kaede suddenly found herself spun and backed against the wall, Aymeric staring down at her, wild-eyed, all his restraint stripped away. “Stay with me tonight. Please.”

Fumbling for words, for any semblance of her previous confidence, Kaede reached up and placed a hand on his chest. “People will talk, you know.”

Aymeric’s eyes sharpened into that steely gaze she had seen so many times in the war room, a look of absolute determination and focus. “ _Let them_.” And with one hand on the back of her thigh, he lifted her off the ground, pressing her back against the wall and covering her mouth with his own.

A surprised yelp quickly melted into a sigh, and Kaede wrapped her legs around his waist and twined her arms around his neck, kissing him back with equal fervor. He broke the kiss with a gasp and moved his mouth lower, scraping his teeth over the scales on her throat, nibbling down towards her collarbone while she buried her hands in his hair and shivered in delight. 

“Ay – ahhh – Aymeric…maybe we should take this – _ah! –_ somewhere else?”

Long fingers dug deeper into her thigh before releasing and lowering her gently to the ground. Kaede untangled her legs but kept her arms where they were, drawing him down with her as he tried to pull himself away from the brink. She brushed a kiss against his forehead and felt him melt down into her arms for a moment before gathering himself as best he could.

Not meeting her eyes – Kaede had the sense that if he did, she’d find herself against the wall again – he escorted her towards the door on the far side of the room, hand hovering away from her back in what, in any other circumstance, would be considered the height of propriety. Knowing how thin the thread of his control was made the distance feel charged with electricity.

The door opened to reveal a room with another fireplace and a stately four poster bed, swathed in deep blue silk. Kaede stopped just inside the door and slid one hand down Aymeric’s arm, subtly directing him towards it. “Go sit down.”

With her back turned, Kaede waited until she heard the rustle of silk, and then reached back around to the laces that held the bodice of her dress cinched tight. With unpracticed fingers she slowly pulled them free, glad that she had forgone the traditional Ishgardian corset – there was no way she would have gotten one of those damnable things off without help. When the last lace was undone she let the fabric drop and pool at her ankles, undergarments following, before she turned.

Aymeric’s eyes were wide and every line of his body was bunched with tension, holding onto the sheets as if to keep him from springing to his feet. Her steps slow and measured, Kaede walked towards him, gaze holding his unflinchingly, even when the heat rose in her cheeks. She tried to imagine what he saw – she was small, and lithe, hard muscle under scales and skin. She had few of the soft curves so valued by the women of the other races, but by the way Aymeric’s eyes hungrily skimmed over her body, from face to breast to hip to leg and back up, she thought perhaps he didn’t much mind.

She did not stop her advance until she stood between his knees, again at a height with him. She could see his blood pounding beneath the vulnerable skin of his throat, hear the harshness of his quickened breathing, but he made no attempt to touch her. Indeed, he seemed willing to wait and let her do as she wished for the time being, despite his obvious desire to do otherwise, and the thought warmed her blood.

Reaching forward, she began to slowly peel back each of the layers of his ridiculous outfit, until she reached the pale, scarred skin underneath. Aymeric’s eyes drifted closed as she ran her fingers over the freshest of them – the place where the assassin’s dagger had found its way between his ribs. “Does it still hurt?”

Blue eyes opened and locked on her own. “At times. In the cold. You needn’t worry about me, Kaede.”

“I wish I had been there to protect you.” When she heard about the attempt, she had damned every single reason she’d had to be out of the city, despite the more logical side of her mind telling her there was little chance she could have changed the outcome at all.

Aymeric shook his head. “You have always been here when I needed you most. The Fury herself could not shield me better than you have – and at times, I am unsure that you are not Her, come to protect us all. Especially now. There is not a man alive who could look at you and see anything but a goddess in all her glory.”

A shiver ran through her whole body, from the top of her head to the tip of her tail, at the way he looked at her, like she was something to be worshiped. It was different than the distant adoration of the masses – this was something that mingled respect and lust in a way that made her dizzy. “I’m as flesh and blood as you are, remember?”

His wide, generous mouth pulled up in a slow smile. “But how can I be sure that you’re real?”

Obvious, what he was fishing for. But Kaede was entirely inclined to give it to him.

Catching one of his hands, she placed it over one breast. His breath caught in time with hers as his thumb brushed lightly over her nipple, immediately tightening in response to his touch. The fire in his eyes, which had been not cool, but banked, blazed back into life. His other hand came up and curled around her hip, pulling her roughly onto his lap, in an echo of how she’d teased him in the sitting room. Only this time she was flush against him, nothing between their chests, and only the thin layer of his soft leather breeches poorly containing the hard flesh that strained upwards towards her warmth. At the same time, he claimed her mouth with a kiss and pinched his thumb and forefinger together, rolling her nipple between them, almost (but not quite) hard enough to hurt.

Groaning into his mouth, Kaede ground down along his length, control scattered to the winds, the only thought in her head a repeated litany of _more, more, more_.

Cutting off the kiss with something between a growl and a curse, Aymeric lifted her and deposited her on the bed so he could shuck his remaining clothing with almost indecent haste. Kaede lay back against the silk sheets, marveling the sheer amount of masculine beauty on full display before her. He parted her knees, and she was certain he would sheathe himself inside her in one sure stroke, and the thought made her entire body flush even hotter.

Instead, he stopped, letting his gaze travel over her body again, and when he reached the juncture of her thighs, and the triangle of small golden scales that covered her rather than hair, he dropped to his knees before her.

Kaede pushed herself up onto her elbows. “What are you –” but before any other words could escape her lips, he pressed a kiss against her folds, dissolving her question into a senseless moan.

Her entire sensorium narrowed to that one singular point where his mouth worked over her with small, sure movements, every brush of his tongue winding her body tighter and tighter until she burst, starlike, into light and heat and pure, unadulterated bliss.

Warm, calloused hands stroked the length of her legs as she struggled to catch her breath as the waves receded, Aymeric’s cheek pressed into the inside of her thigh, eyes sharp and proud and hungry as he watched her shiver.

As she calmed, he rose from his obeisance and leaned over her, brushing sweat-damp strands of hair from her face with a touch so careful it had to be more for his benefit than her own. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but before he could do something foolish, like ask her if she was alright, Kaede simply looped her legs around his waist, reached down between their bodies, and guided him into her.

With a groan, Aymeric sank down into her core in one movement. The brief discomfort gave way to a glorious ache as he filled her, one of the most satisfying feelings she knew.

“Kaede? I’m sorry, did I hurt–” He was staring down at her, mild alarm at his own lack of control having penetrated the haze of pleasure.

“For fuck’s _sake_ , Aymeric, I won’t break.” To prove her point, she levered herself off the bed, and with some difficulty, rolled them so she sat astride Aymeric’s hips. He blinked in shock – every man she’d ever bedded forgot her strength once her clothes came off. One of her adventurer friends called it “tit blindness,” and while crass, the term was appropriate.

Settled firmly into her new position, Kaede rolled her hips and ground down as far as she could take him, watching through her own pleasure as Aymeric’s eyes rolled back and fell half shut, so she could only see the whites. She waited half a moment for him to recover before she pulled herself back and almost off of him entirely, then slammed back down, hard enough to make stars flare behind her eyelids.

Aymeric’s breath burst out of him in a gasp-moan-groan of pleasure, and she leaned down over him, long blonde hair forming a silken screen around their bodies. “See? I told you, I’m not some delicate maiden. Whatever you give me, I can take. I promise.”

His eyes snapped open as finally, _finally_ , the last thread of his self-control shattered under the weight of her words. He surged beneath her and rolled her back onto her back, giving her not a moment to settle before he started driving into her with deep, hard strokes, burying himself to the hilt each time. All she could do was cling to him, heels digging into the small of his back, nails dragging furrows into the pale flesh of his shoulders.

A pressure like, but different from what she’d felt from his earlier ministrations began to build, centered on where they were joined, and her moans turned to helpless, mewling gasps as his movements became sharper, faster, and then… He bit her collarbone, hard, as she broke apart around him, and he followed her into the abyss.

It took what felt like an eternity for her consciousness to finally resettle itself in her sweat-soaked skin, with Aymeric half collapsed on top of her, her entire lower body throbbing and aching.

“By the Fury,” was mumbled, sounding half drunk and entirely awestruck, into the crook of her neck, and Kaede laughed, exhausted, in agreement.

“Aymeric, love, would you mind–” Kaede pushed at his shoulder, but all her previous strength had left her, and she barely succeeded in denting his flesh.

A deep groan was followed by Aymeric rolling off her and onto his back, but his arms caught her and pulled her half onto his chest as he went. He tucked her against his side, and she was powerless to resist – not that she wanted to, in any case. He was warm, and soft, like velvet over steel.

Drowsiness threatened to overtake her, and she thought that Aymeric had surrendered to it when his hand slid down her arm. “Thank you.”

Kaede cracked one eye open and looked up to see Aymeric staring down at her, the depth of feeling that lay plain on his face – disbelief, gratitude, satisfaction, joy, and something else underpinning it all that she shied away from putting a name to – made her heart ache.

“There is nothing to thank me for. I wanted this as much as you did.”

A grin, more boyish than any she’d ever seen on his solemn features, spread across his face. “You have no idea how glad it makes me to hear you say that. Truly. I was so nervous, wanting everything to go well tonight, but not sure if your feelings for me extended past friendship… So I was trying not to hope _too_ fervently, but this has surpassed my wildest dreams.”

With some effort, Kaede pushed herself up enough to press a lingering, melting kiss to Aymeric’s lips. “I should be thanking you for extending the invitation. I doubt I would have been brave enough to do anything about all that wanting without it.”

Aymeric smiled up at her and carded his fingers through her hair, shaking his head. “You are the bravest person I’ve ever met. Bravest, fiercest, and most beautiful.”

Embarrassed, Kaede buried her face in his throat and hid her blush as he laughed. Slowly they both relaxed into comfortable silence, until Aymeric broke it again, voice almost hesitant. “You will stay tonight, won’t you?”

“It would take you physically throwing me out of here to keep me from staying, love.”

Her face still tucked against his heck, Kaede felt more than heard him swallow, hard, and then realized exactly what she’d said – the endearment slipping out so easily that she hadn’t even noticed herself saying it.

“That’s the second time you’ve called me that.” His voice was threaded with so much hope that he sounded almost pained.

For the first time, Kaede pulled herself away from him entirely, sticky flesh making the separation feel even more definite, even more uncomfortable. “Aymeric, you know we can’t. You have things you must do here, responsibilities to Ishgard – and I have my own, to the Scions. You’ll be expected to marry a nice Ishgardian noblewoman, and I’ll be expected to throw myself in front of the next primal threat that emerges. The only thing that will come from this conversation is pain.”

Aymeric sat up and leaned forward, cradling her face in his hands. “I cannot ask you to stay with me, and I cannot go with you. But I do love you, and whatever you do with that knowledge is yours to decide, it will change nothing about how I feel about you.”

Her eyes ached and stung, and instead of letting the tears fall, she funneled all her passion into a kiss, hoping that she could tell him without words everything that she couldn’t bring herself to say.

He returned the kiss with equal fervor, and for the rest of the night they said nothing at all.

–

Sunlight, weak and pale, broke through the curtains at dawn, and Kaede found herself waking from a deep, satisfied sleep in Aymeric de Borel’s bed, naked and sore, but in very good spirits. The conversation they’d started lay unfinished, but there would be time for that another day, perhaps.

Rising from the sheets, Kaede glanced towards her cast-off dress, and instead, after a brief freshening up, headed toward the armoire that stood in the corner of Aymeric’s room. Opening it, she found several outfits, most in shades of House Borel blue, varying from simple to the elaborate styles favored by most of the country’s noblemen. Selecting a plain blue silk shirt, Kaede slipped it over her head, amused by how it reached down to her thighs. Linking her fingers together, she stretched her arms over her head, rising up on her toes, tail stretched straight out for balance. Rolling her shoulders, she shook the tension from her muscles and sighed in pleasure.

“Pilfering my wardrobe already? And here I thought the stories of women stealing their lovers’ clothing were exaggerated.” Kaede glanced over to see Aymeric leaning back against the headboard of his bed, eyeing her in blatant appreciation.

“Then maybe women’s clothing shouldn’t be so damned uncomfortable. There’s not a woman in Eorzea who wants to put on a dress with laces first thing in the morning.” With rare cheer, Kaede sashayed across the room, swaying her hips exaggeratedly, grinning as Aymeric raised his eyebrows at her.

“You seem to have something besides breakfast on your mind.”

Kaede climbed up on the bed, crawling over to him. “If you want your shirt back, maybe you should come get it.”

Aymeric grinned back at her, and was mid-reach when his chamber door slammed open, revealing a knight of House Fortemps, trailed by a flustered, protesting steward of House Borel.

The knight, upon seeing the Lord Commander of the Temple Knights and the Warrior of Light in a state of definite undress – and oh, if people were going to talk before, now there would be no escaping it – he stopped and hastily averted his eyes.

“Lord Commander, pray forgive the interruption!” The poor man’s voice cracked on the words, clearly distressed but forging on regardless – and that, more than anything, had Kaede on high alert. Something was _wrong._

Aymeric clearly felt the same, because he sat up straighter, and all traces of Aymeric de Borel fell away and reformed into the Lord Commander, imposing even naked and unarmed in his own bed. “News from House Fortemps?”

The knight’s gaze flicked momentarily to Kaede herself, and then diverted again. “An urgent message for the Warrior of Light. I was instructed to deliver it without delay.” There was a clear apology in the second statement, and Kaede waved a hand in dismissal, more interested in what, exactly, so direly required her attention.

“Master Thancred returned to the manor a while ago, bearing an injured maiden. Master Leveilleur and Mistress Tataru are tending her wounds, but they like not her chances. Respectfully, my lord – they have requested the Warrior of Light’s immediate presence.”

An injured maiden? And with Thancred? Kaede could think of only a few whom would merit that level of urgency – a Scion, of course, so Y’shtola? Or perhaps Thancred had located Yda?

Aymeric touched her wrist, drawing her gaze. “You must go to them. And I will go with you. Give us but a moment.”

Her thoughts racing, Kaede gathered her discarded clothing, heedless of the knight’s squawk of embarrassment at her less-than concealing attire. The steward ushered the man out of the room, and Aymeric strode from his bed, dressing swiftly and efficiently, even stopping to help Kaede with the laces on her dress with surprising deftness.

Together they made their way to House Fortemps, not bothering to hide that both were in the previous day’s clothing and coming from the same place – the news would spread regardless, and speed was more important than pointless attempts at discretion.

When at last they reached House Fortemps, the injured maiden was revealed to indeed be a Scion, but not one Kaede would have even expected – Alisaie Leveilleur, who Kaede had not seen in months. A complicated tale about the Warriors of Darkness and their attempt on her life followed, succeeded by – of course – the rise of yet another primal that needed slaying. The other Scions looked to her, and Kaede felt near-smothered by the weight of their expectations.

Even as the darkest parts of her mind raged at the injustice – could she not have _one day_ of peace, to do as she wished? – Kaede steeled her will and locked the voice down deep within herself. This was no pointless petty task, it had to be her. There was no one else.

She dimly heard Aymeric taking charge of Alisaie’s treatment, and her heart clenched in gratitude at his calm, composed voice. She could trust him to handle things here, while she flung herself headlong into danger once again. As things settled and plans were made, Kaede stole a brief moment to glance in his direction.

Aymeric forced a smile, but it was barely worthy of the same title as the ones he had given her the night before. “Well, the fates afforded us our long-delayed drink, but ‘twould seem the rest of my wine cellar will have to wait.” His words were light, but Kaede heard their meaning clear enough.

“I will take you up on that offer of more wine as soon as I am able, Lord Commander. I promise.”

With that, she turned her focus to Alphinaud, his normally perceptive eyes turned inward towards his own grief. Her own concerns would have to wait – she was the Warrior of Light, and she would do her duty, no matter the cost.


End file.
